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The Best Survival Knife What Do We Look For?
Looking for the best survival knife,SHOULD be a big deal when looking at survival knives, as you sure don't want to be caught in a bad situation with a knife that isn't up to the task.
It used to be that nearly all men carried knives with them.
And here in the Northwest part of the beautiful United States, most guys STILL carry some sort of multi-purpose tool or knife on their belt. It is not unusual at all to see a rifle slung across the back of a pickup truck as well.
It's actually sort of a shame how so many folks are afraid of knives today. Depending where you are, people freak out when they see a knife fastened to your belt. Because of what the movies and media have made knives out to be, it is no wonder, I guess.
Read our brief review on one of our top selling survival knife, which happens to be a Gerber LMF ll Survival Knife.(knife pictured here)
Have any emergency preparedness ideas and tips, you would care to share?! We have added a new feature to our site where YOU can add YOUR story! We (and our readers!) can't wait to hear about YOUR best survival strategy...Click Here to see what all the commotion is about...=)... and this is brand spanking new so don't be afraid to be the first to add something!
TheTom Brown Tracker Knife has become a very popular knife as well and is also considered to be one of the best survival knife options today since the movie "The Hunted" came out in '03.
For everybody that is preparing a survival kit, hunting or backpacking trip, or just for the simple handiness of having a good all purpose knife at your disposal....
remember that a GOOD survival knife is one of the most important parts of your emergency preparedness kit.
First of all, here are a few things your survival knife should NOT have or be...
A hollow handle, many folks think one of those knives with a hollow handle, filled with survival gear is the one to choose ... not necessarily so... especially with the cheaper models, the hollow handle tends to weaken the strength of the knife, making this kind NOT the best survival knife option.
Huge oversized Rambo knife...maybe... Most survivalist guys don't prefer to carry a big oversized knife, but I guess it depends on what you are looking for in a knife.
Blade Length of the Best Survival Knife
Four to six inches is a good length for the knife blade. Longer than that is too much weight and over-kill. This length has the right mix for size and control.
If you DO need a larger blade knife of some sort, it may be a good idea to add a Blackhawk Knife or machette or a hatchet to your pack.
Knife Tang
Here is where the rubber meets the road on choosing the best survival knife.
You want the metal part of your knife to be what is called full tang or narrow tang where the metal blade goes the full length of the knife.
Full tang is where the blade merges into the handle. In many cases the metal or steel is encased on two sides with either wood or leather to be used as a handle.
On some survival knives the handle is actually left off to make it lighter and more versatile. To the inexperienced, these bare metal knives may look bare and unattractive, but the true outdoorsman or survivalist knows better!
The bare metal is harder on the hands though, so it's best to at least cover the handle with rawhide or leather of some sort.
Narrow tang is where the steel is narrower and is covered by more handle so to speak.
When you are looking for the best survival knife, one easy way to tell if it is a good knife, is to look at the spine of the knife and make sure you can see the steel running all the way through to the handle.
Not necessarily all the way through to the end but you'll want the blade to go a good ways into the handle.
Smooth or Serrated Blades?
I would suggest to go with a smooth blade as the serrated blades are harder to sharpen when you are out in the woods, and although the serrated can cut through things like material and flesh better than a smooth one at times, your smooth blade will make short work of those things as well, if it is kept sharp.
The smooth blades can be sharpened on a rock if you need to where as the serrated you can't really do that...
The serrated knives are useful at cutting down small twigs and branches.. but I like the little survival saws that you can get that have various blades and are compact enough to fit into your survival pack and yet powerful enough to cut through quite a thick branch for firewood!
It would be a great idea to have both kinds in your pack, I guess!:)
